Quote for today… “Be careful what you wish for. I know that for a fact. Wishes are brutal, unforgiving things. They burn your tongue the moment they’re spoken and you can never take them back.” – Alice Hoffman

It’s kind of a big deal! “Lancaster County took the top spot in a national poll that measured residents’ satisfaction with their life, health, work and community.” Barbara Heim, 72, of Columbia, agrees. She says, “It’s just a nice place to live.” – Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era

Is it Columbia or Colombia? In Columbia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ought to apply. According to page four of the The Planning Commission of Pennsylvania, Planning Series #2, “A planning commission consists of three to nine members who must be residents of the municipality. Legal residence Read the rest of this entry »

Today is decision day; this is the countdown day you asked about a few weeks ago, “Curiouser and curiouser.” A year ago, we began Columbia news, views & reviews as an information source for interested readers in and around Columbia. It’s now one year later … nearly 1,170 posts later.

When we began, we said this:

“A locally operated alternative news and information source, Columbia news, views & reviews will try to remember that nothing contributes to the well-being of a community more than a balanced, objective and consistent local news and information source.

“Columbia news, views & reviewswill try to be a community bulletin board containing accurate, fair news reporting, thoughtful insights and useful information that every reader in the community will find valuable.

“Our goal is to celebrate what’s good about Columbia and its shareholders — including the idiosyncrasies that make them uniquely attractive — while calling attention, thoughtfully and fearlessly, with humor and without pomposity, to what can and should be improved.

“Columbia news, views & reviews will be open to contributions from the community (including quality writing and photography submissions) and seeks to provide a big picture view of important issues. One of our goals is to update this site each day.”

Now … after a year of posting articles, photos, opinions and features about events and people in and around Columbia and after investing significant time and financial resources in this project, we are re-evaluating our position.

We thank you, the readers, for checking in each day with hundreds of page views. We especially appreciate the scores of subscribing readers.

Evidence suggests that up to 30% of people who are obese are perfectly healthy. Rudd Centre for Food Policy

“No one can claim to be unaware of the risks of obesity in this day and age. Almost every day there are discussions in the media about the risks of carrying excess fat. But research shows the link between obesity and ill-health is not as simple as it’s often made out to be.

“Obesity is all over the media – newspaper and magazine articles talk about high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and more unusual illnesses linked to obesity, such as sleep apnoea; there are suggested diets and exercise plans to help reduce fat at every turn and; popular, humiliating television shows enforce strict weight-loss regimens on the morbidly obese while providing entertainment.

“But while research shows obese people often have metabolic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, this is not the whole picture. What’s rarely, if ever, mentioned in the popular press (although it’s receiving growing interest in scientific circles) is the phenomenon of the metabolically healthy obese.

“In most obese people, we can find evidence of metabolic abnormalities that result from the excess fat they carry. We can measure that these people need more of a hormone called insulin from their pancreas when they eat, to help burn up glucose in their cells. We call this phenomenon “insulin resistance”. It’s insulin resistance that eventually causes obesity-related complications such as high blood pressure, high blood fat levels, diabetes and heart disease.

“Eastbound Route 30 on the Wrights Ferry Bridge over the Susquehanna River between York and Lancaster counties will be reduced to one lane today, Tuesday, February 28, so that the contractor can continue prep work for the next stage of construction to repair the bridge. The eastbound single-lane restriction will take place starting around 9 a.m. and wrapping up no later than 3 p.m., weather permitting. Today’s operation continues prep work that was begun yesterday.” – PennDOT press release

Isn’t it curious that Columbians are finding out only now that “Eleven unlocked vehicles were ransacked on two separate nights, overnight Feb. 21-22 and overnight Sunday, Officer Brent Keyser said.” The cars were ransacked on the night of February 21, and it’s reported yesterday! There is a daily POLICE LOG (See below) in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era in which municipalities’ reports are listed. Why should a week go by before Columbia’s citizens are alerted to the danger? Is this an acceptable output of responsible government?

“What a contrast to human beings who are constantly plagued with the sin of lying. Habitual liars are quickly known and their reputation follows them everywhere.” – Bethel Church of God Website

If you live in Columbia; work in Columbia; have a business in Columbia; shop in Columbia or, perhaps most importantly, pay property taxes in Columbia, you may miss out on important information if you do not attend the scheduled borough council meetings and the collection of other announced or unannounced meetings.

At the council meetings, you may miss the comments and body language of those elected and hired to serve Columbia’s citizens as they interact with ideas, issues, discussions and legislature that will impact the community’s shareholders today, tomorrow and for years to come. You may miss the finger-pointing, recollecting, politicizing, pontificating and reminiscing. You will miss the genuine interest that a few citizens voice when they ask questions and offer comments during the meetings.

And you will miss the derision, verbal attacks and obfuscation tactics that, from time to time, are directed towards the citizens who may ask for clarification or offer another viewpoint.

You will wonder why there are microphones in front of the elected “public servants” and they’re not used! You’ll wonder why there is apparent undecipherable “mumbling” … especially when so many of the concerned citizens who show up for these meetings are wearing hearing aids.

You may wonder … are these people are representing you?!

But if you do not attend the meeting, how will you find out what happened? How will you get a copy of the agenda?

“The agenda is a written plan of the order and content of a meeting, a prearranged outline for the conduct of business in the most efficient manner. Without the discipline of an agenda, meetings of governing bodies tend to become long, disorderly and fruitless, as well as offensive to the interested citizen.”

Here are more delicious produce notes from The Produce Geek. U-m-m-m! You may want to visit the Website (click on the logo) and take another peek. The Produce Geek’s also got other recommendations there!

“It’s a good thing that there’s a spring-fed well of ideas and recipes for fresh Broccoli in cookbooks and online, because there’s an uber-abundant supply of Broccoli right now. Growers in California, Arizona, Mexico and Florida are discounting prices to move the bountiful harvests here in February and March. This creates the possibility of lower ad prices and in-store specials on high quality Broccoli Crowns where you shop. Rock on! Raw for veggie trays, dipping and snacking, steamed as a healthy side, sauteed for richness, stir-fried with other vegetables or roasted for great flavor – what’s your favorite use for fresh Broccoli Crowns?

“Broccoli grows best in cool weather, and so it makes sense that Broccoli likes to stay quite cold after it is picked. This is why you often see Broccoli displayed on ice at the store. Keep your Broccoli refrigerated right up until you’re ready to eat it. Select Broccoli that has tight beads on the crown, is firm and has fresh, green cut ends. Avoid Broccoli that has a strong odor or is flabby and limp. You might be wondering… what is the difference between Broccoli and Broccoli Crowns? It’s all in the cut. Growers cut some Broccoli with the full stalk on and sell them in bunches, while other Broccoli is trimmed with the just the top – Broccoli Crowns. Are you a stem-n-all or just crowns person?”

“Lindsey M. Herr was named to the dean’s list for the fall se­mester at Bloomsburg University, where she is a sophomore majoring in speech pa­thology. A 2010 graduate of Penn Manor High School, she is the daugh­ter of Larry and Sharon Herr of Washington Boro. – The following area students were named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Indiana University of Pennsylvania: Columbia: Morgan Elizabeth Difenderfer, Read the rest of this entry »

“Last week several media outlets obtained the federal Bureau of Land Management’s draft of proposed rules requiring fracking companies to disclose the chemicals they pump into the ground. Such disclosure requirements have been championed by environmentalists for years and were endorsed by President Obama in the State of the Union, but critics say the rules may not go far enough.

“In the process of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, millions of gallons of highly pressurized water, mixed with sand and other chemicals, are injected into the ground to extract natural gas from rock. As we’ve noted before, some of these chemicals are toxic to humans and have contaminated nearby groundwater. Some energy companies have voluntarily made their chemical information public, but others have fought to keep them secret.

“InsideClimate notes that the proposed national rules would specifically require companies to give both the names and concentrations of individual chemicals used. So far, Colorado is the only state that requires such detailed information for all chemicals; eight other states with fracking disclosure rules either do not require companies to report concentrations or only require them to report concentrations of hazardous materials. The BLM’s rules also would compel companies to report the total volume of fracking fluid used, as well as how they intend to recover and dispose of it.

“Though the BLM’s proposed rules are more stringent than most state laws, environmental and health advocates say drillers could circumvent some of the requirements. For instance, the rules would only apply to drilling on federal lands. Also, companies could request that certain chemicals be exempted from disclosure if they are deemed a ‘trade secret.’ The trade secret exemptions ‘could potentially make the rules meaningless if applied broadly,’ Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel at a public health advocacy group told InsideClimate.

This is a reminder of another era; who did not get a thrill when you chucked the old Barbasol can into the burning barrel? The folks at ListVerse have come up with this list: Top 10 Nearly Extinct Household Items. We admit that we’re starting out with No. 1, because it’s something of which most people just have no recollection.

“Of all the old household items I miss from my childhood, this is #1. The backyard burn barrel. It was a rusty old empty 55-gallon drum dad brought home from work or found at a junkyard, or God knows where he got it. In the autumn, my favorite time of the year, you knew winter was coming because the geese were flying south, you were playing football, school had started, and the smell of burning leaves was in the air (oh yeah, mom had the Halloween decorations up too). Everyone had one of these in their backyards to burn their fallen leaves. There were no curbside pick-ups to recycle the leaves back then. You just raked them up, and burned them. My mom loved it. She would stand there with an old broom stick handle, blackened at one end, and stir the smoldering leaves to get more air to them so they would combust better. We would rake up the leaves and walk over and dump arm fulls [sic] into the burning barrel. Then my mom would stir it like a witch attending her cauldron. There was just nothing like the smell of burning Read the rest of this entry »

Quote for today… “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw

Ain’t this the truth? “State funding comes with strings attached. Accountability and transparency with the public, the ultimate source of all tax dollars, are two of those strings. So institutions that want public support need to be willing to let the public inspect their books.” – Lancaster Sunday News editorial

Columbia shoots 54% from the field in an “85-56 rout of Hanover in a District Three Class AA boys’ basketball quarterfinal Saturday afternoon.” – Lancaster Sunday News

“Who ‘dat?’” Here’s the reality of the digital environment: Interesting local items get rebroadcast across the globe! A Philadelphia TV station does a video clip about a Columbia attraction: “The Turkey Hill Experience. Who said you can’t have fun at a dairy. Moo, that’s not true. PHL17’s Zachery Lashway shows us not only can you have fun but learn a lot too.” Then that clip is played by New Orleans, Louisiana television station WGNO. – WGNO-TV